Taylor, the "not a boy"https://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com
The Virtual EngelbertFri, 11 May 2018 16:33:30 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://s0.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.pngTaylor, the "not a boy"https://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com
What’s in a name?https://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/whats-in-a-name/
https://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/whats-in-a-name/#commentsWed, 23 Nov 2011 20:43:24 +0000http://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/?p=260I saw this on Ivy’s blog and thought it looked silly. Naturally I wanted to play

YOU HAVE 8 NAMES:
1. YOUR REAL NAME: Taylor Gilmore2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME (First 3 letters of your first name followed by izzle): Tayizzle3. YOUR SPY NAME (favorite color and favorite animal): Purple Chameleon (and yes that is my favourite animal purely because of Tangled :))4. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name): Gilta5. YOUR SUPERHERO/CRIMINAL NAME (Your 2nd favorite color, and favorite drink): Blue Fanta Fruit Twist6. YOUR TERRORIST NAME (2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, 1st letter of your last name, 2nd letter of your mom’s maiden name, 1st letter of a siblings first name, and last letter of your mom’s middle name): Algoce7. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME (parents middle names): Christine Geoffrey8. YOUR GOTH NAME (dark, and the name of one of your pets: Dark Arthur (He was my favourite fish. He didn’t have tail…)

That’s it pretty much. A bit of silly fun.

]]>https://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/whats-in-a-name/feed/2squidgeyvGood thoughts of the week (14/11)https://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/2011/11/20/good-thoughts-of-the-week-1411/
https://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/2011/11/20/good-thoughts-of-the-week-1411/#respondSun, 20 Nov 2011 21:12:31 +0000http://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/?p=258Monday: I caught myself up with the maths work I missed on Friday.

Tuesday: I had a really good driving lesson. I did independent driving and I have finally got bay parking down!

Wednesday: Me and mum did part of a jigsaw together like we used to.

Thursday: I got 17/20 (an A) on the timed essay we did in business last week.

Friday: Me and my friends dressed up as school girls for Children in Need. It was fun.

Saturday: I woke up to a “good morning beautiful” which always starts my day well.

Sunday: Me and mum have been preparing a lot of apples to put in pies and crumbles. I feel a lot of good puddings are on the way.

]]>https://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/2011/11/20/good-thoughts-of-the-week-1411/feed/0squidgeyvChildren in Need Bandeokehttps://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/2011/11/14/children-in-need-bandeoke/
https://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/2011/11/14/children-in-need-bandeoke/#commentsMon, 14 Nov 2011 19:49:13 +0000http://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/?p=256When we (Not Quite that is) played at our local carnival, there was another band booked to play a set after us. The One Hit Wonders are a ‘bandeoke’ band. Basically they are live karaoke, encouraging people from the audience to come up and be the lead singer, complete with track lyrics and everything.

On Saturday, it was their Children in Need night. I was really keen to go, even though I had been shopping all day and ill the day before so I was feeling very tired. I missed the last gig, and I wasn’t going to miss out again! It was totally worth it. They are great performers, and all really nice, so it was good going. I sang Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars first. I actually broke the band somehow. They had been fine before, but when I went up something went wrong with the bass and all sorts, so I actually sang Just the Way You Are one and a half times… It was good fun. I couldn’t see anything because of the smoke machine XD

Because they are so nice, as I said before, they where keen to get all of us in Not Quite up to do a song. We’d been up individually and in pairs already, but for our last song we all went up and did Forget You by Cee-lo Green. They were impressed, but due to bad mic levels everyone else could only really hear Liberty. It was funny though because she was quite drunk and dancing around everywhere, so I imagine it was good to watch. Drunk Liberty is so funny.

Liberty’s friend Carole came and did a couple of songs and so did my boyfriend. His Sweet Caroline was a bit painful, but he did really well on Brown Eyed Girl and especially awesome at Year 3000. I think it was the Busted jump that he did with it that made it that much more cool XD. I pulled a muscle in my leg dancing along to that with Charlie. Good times.

At the end of the night everyone (bar like, 3 grumpy people, Liberty’s boyfriend included) piled onstage to sing Hey Jude. I only knew the Naaaaa naaaaa bits at the end, but it was fun all the same. It was an awesome night, and I can’t wait for the next gig!

Good thoughts of the week:

Monday: As a present for doing such and awesome maths presentation, mum paid for half of the Lion King Blu-ray boxset for me! The box is sexy and I can’t wait for it to arrive!

Tuesday: Me and Charlie went to Jazz band after school today. It was really fun and a teacher came to tell us we were sounding good already.

Wednesday: My Lion King boxset came today! It is sexy-licious

Thursday: My stomach still feels a little weird from the bug/food poisoning I had yesterday, but it doesn’t hurt anymore. And I ate. I never eat when I’m ill.

Friday: Because I felt ill I stayed home from school, but Addy helped cheer me up by watching Lion King 1 and 2 with me. And she sung the African bit in the beginning of the Circle of Life.

Saturday: I went shopping with my friend, had a firework party and wen to the One Hit Wonders Children in Need Bandeoke night. It was all awesome.

Sunday: I pretty much spent all day doing a jigsaw puzzle

]]>https://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/2011/11/14/children-in-need-bandeoke/feed/1squidgeyvShoppinghttps://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/2011/11/06/shopping/
https://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/2011/11/06/shopping/#commentsSun, 06 Nov 2011 22:04:35 +0000http://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/?p=253Today I was woken up at very early o’clock (ok, it was 9 o’clock, but that’s early for a Sunday) by my mother after a very strange dream about a spider. Mum asked me if I wanted to go shopping. I needed some smart clothes for when I have interviews and such, so I said yes.

After getting the babies ready and in the car, we went to Tesco in Telford. I managed to find a nice pair of trousers quite quickly, which is rare for me because I am awful at shopping. I never know where to start, what is good or what is just plain ugly. The even rarer thing is that the trousers actually fit me. I’m an odd size, just really too short and skinny for my own good. I couldn’t find a nice top, so we went to find everyone else in the toy section. I found the coolest thing ever there. Are you ready for this.

Yes, that is a Star Wars Lego Advent Calendar. I know it says age 6 – 14, and I’m actually 17, but I don’t care! Star Wars Lego is cool :).

After a quick dash to find another toy for £5 to use our vouchers, we went over to the Town Centre. My Step-Dad took the babies to the park while me and mum went round the shopping centre. We went into Asda first, but I couldn’t find any clothes I liked. We bought some things for a little tea party we were planning for lunch for my Step-Dad’s birthday, and mum went a bit crazy for Pudsey Bear things. The Pudsey Bear Lego is awesome though. We also went into the Puzzle Store, just to have a look. It made me really want to do a jigsaw…

Primark was the next big shop. We managed to get loads of good stuff in there. I found a smart top, a t-shirt, a skull scarf and a load of hair bands. Mission accomplished for me. Mum bought a load of stuff to replace the 3 yr old’s wardrobe and some socks for herself that no one can mistake as their own. Mission accomplished for her. We headed out then, taking a quick detour round the Works, but then ultimately meeting back up with the rest of the family to go home for our tea party. It was a great day, and I actually had fun shopping for once! That almost never happens.

I will leave you with my good thoughts of the week, that I totally did not have to make up just now because I forgot to write them down from Tuesday onwards…

Monday: I got loads of work done ready for when I revise for Business so I can get my A grade.

Tuesday: I have finished my maths coursework and almost finished my further maths coursework.

Wednesday: I might be going on a shopping trip with my friend to buy going out clothes and a secret santa present. It will be fun.

Thursday: I got an A in a timed Business essay that I hadn’t even completely finished!

Friday: I stayed over at the boyfriend’s house and ate Chinese. Good times.

Saturday: I had a great shopping trip with the boyfriend and his grandparents. I will have a gorgeous new coat and a new book for Christmas. I can’t wait!

Sunday: I had an awesome shopping trip with mum. Now I have smart clothes

]]>https://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/2011/11/06/shopping/feed/1squidgeyvSnapshot_20111106The 2011 Stephen King Challenge – Book 4https://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/2011/11/05/the-2011-stephen-king-challenge-book-4/
https://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/2011/11/05/the-2011-stephen-king-challenge-book-4/#commentsSat, 05 Nov 2011 22:52:30 +0000http://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/?p=238The fourth Stephen King book I read was actually written by King’s pseudonym Richard Bachman. The book is called Blaze, and this is what the blurb says:

Clayton Blaisdell’s capers are strictly small time until he meets George Rackley. With Blaze’s brawn and George’s brains, they pull off a hundred successful cons. Then George plans the one big score every small timer dreams of: kidnapping the heir to a family fortune.

The trouble is that by the time the deal goes down, the brains of the operation has died. Or has he?

Now Blaze is running into the white hell of the Maine woods with a baby as hostage. The crime of the century just turned into a race against time…

I really enjoyed this book. I thought the main character, Blaze, was very loveable, despite kidnapping a 6 month old baby, and I liked how you could see how his mind worked through the narrative. To be honest I was more interested in the flashbacks to see how Blaze ended up where he is today, but I wanted to see how his story played out, so it only took me a few days to read. I’m not sure if it is just because it was mentioned in the ‘Full Disclosure’ at the beginning of my copy of the book, but this story reminded me a lot of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. The main character is abnormally big and strong, and because of mental problems, can’t control their strength or know right from wrong and get into trouble because of it. I don’t think it helps that the ‘smart one’ of the team is called George in both books either XD. Although this isn’t a horror, there is a slight supernatural element that presents itself in the form of Blaze hearing advice from a dead friend. Is it just his imagination? Who knows. I liked it though.

As I am running out of things to say (in case you hadn’t noticed, writing isn’t my strong point…) I am going to end my review there. I don’t know which one I’m going to read next. I have a lot of books on my list.

]]>https://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/2011/11/05/the-2011-stephen-king-challenge-book-4/feed/1squidgeyvGood Thoughtshttps://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/2011/10/30/good-thoughts/
https://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/2011/10/30/good-thoughts/#respondSun, 30 Oct 2011 20:19:08 +0000http://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/?p=248I am trying to install an updated version of Microsoft Office on my laptop, and it is proving very difficult, so I’m not going to have time to write a proper post. I’ll just write my good thoughts of the week, and then write a proper post tomorrow.

Monday: I went to the Argos recruitment event. I think I did well, and I had fun. Just have to wait for a phone call now.

Tuesday: My friend came round and we basically watched films all day. Plus she let me borrow a load of DVDs.

Wednesday: I got a conditional offer from Liverpool University. Just waiting to hear back from the other four now.

Thursday: I got to stay with Ivy in Northampton We made Enchiladas and watched Thursday night TV.

Friday: Me and Ivy went shopping. I got a new book, a hat to make her look like Edith from Despicable Me (don’t ask) and series 1 & 2 of How I Met Your Mother on DVD. It was legen- wait for it… -DARY!

Saturday: I presented my maths presentation and everyone liked it

Sunday: I had a great time at the boyfriend’s house for Sunday Lunch. I even ate a normal (mostly) sized plate of food!

]]>https://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/2011/10/30/good-thoughts/feed/0squidgeyvThe First Week of the Happy Planhttps://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/2011/10/23/the-first-week-of-the-happy-plan/
https://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/2011/10/23/the-first-week-of-the-happy-plan/#respondSun, 23 Oct 2011 14:45:06 +0000http://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/?p=245Last week I wrote a post about making a new, more positive me. I had a plan to be more happy, and I felt really good about it. Until the next day. I don’t know what it was, but I just felt really depressed, and did so for a few days. I just wanted to cry all the time, and did a couple of times in fact. I wrote a song one night when I couldn’t sleep, just trying to work it all out. I don’t know if I’ll post it on here or not. Maybe someday. Then I had a talk with the boyfriend, cried on him for a little bit and felt better. I still don’t know what it was that was wrong, but he made me feel better, and I have been happy pretty much since then, so I thank him for that :).

The rest of the week has been amazing. I’ve had loads of fun with my friends, College has ended for half term, and I am really on top of all of my work, so I don’t have a lot to do over my break. I also asked Charlie to teach me how to practise piano because it was really frustrating me that I was practising every day, but not getting any better. My practising is a lot more efficient now, and I have improved quite a lot I think. I haven’t practised for the last couple of days due to people being round, and then doing a photo shoot at my friends house for part of her Art coursework. I plan to do an extra long practise today though, and then I will get back into the swing of the routine.

Also this week, I have had a reply from all of my University choices saying that they have received my application. I am also one step closer to getting my first job. I am going to attend a recruitment event tomorrow (eep!) and hopefully everything will go alright and I’ll have a job over the Christmas holidays. Suddenly it feels like I’m actually going to have to be a grown up soon.

So, despite the major setback in my Happy Plan at the beginning of the week, I feel pretty good about everything at the moment. I will leave you with my good thoughts for the week.

Monday: My gum doesn’t hurt anymore. Now I can brush my teeth properly. Also, I have finally seen the Phineas and Ferb film. It was awesome!

Tuesday: I had an awesome break time with my friends. For some reason EVERYTHING is funny around them…

Wednesday: I got to snuggle in bed reading with the boyfriend for an extra hour this morning

Thursday: Last day of school. Need I say more?

Friday: I called Argos to confirm I could attend a recruitment event on Monday. I am one step closer to getting my first job.

Saturday: I had an awesome time at my friend’s house doing our last photo shoot and killing zombies (or not, I wasn’t very good at it XD).

Sunday: I have finished all of my maths homework for over half term. I only have business homework left to do.

]]>https://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/2011/10/23/the-first-week-of-the-happy-plan/feed/0squidgeyvThe 2011 Stephen King Challenge – Book 3https://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/2011/10/18/the-2011-stephen-king-challenge-book-3/
https://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/2011/10/18/the-2011-stephen-king-challenge-book-3/#respondTue, 18 Oct 2011 11:20:48 +0000http://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/?p=222The third Stephen King book I chose to read was The Dark Half. I actually read this book months ago, but for some reason or other, my blogging stopped, and I didn’t write the review. This review probably won’t be very long, as I have read a lot of other books since, and can’t remember everything that happened. This is what the blurb says.

Thad Beaumont is a writer. In the not-too-distant past the literary press was full of critical acclaim for his work. Then he hit a period of difficulty with his writing, and he invented George Stark. At first, Stark was a bit of fun, a pseudonym, complete with sinister author biography, under which Thad could create violent and commercial thrillers. But the thrillers became bestsellers and soon Stark was earning far more money than Beaumont, and Beaumont was creating nothing at all.

But now Thad is feeling better. The father of infant twins, he’s beginning to write for himself again. He no longer needs George Stark, and somehow relieved that the game is over, he announces that Stark will write no more. He even “buries” him, with a specially made headstone, for a magazine photo-feature.

Which is all very funny and a happy ending to a lucrative but strange period in the life of Thad and Liz Beaumont. Except for one thing. George Stark doesn’t want to die. Impossibly, terrifyingly, in an orgy of violence, he appears to have returned – a killing machine intent on destroying anything and everything that stands between him and the man who created him…

Despite the best part of this book being right at the beginning in the prologue when Thad has an eyeball removed from his brain, I enjoyed reading this book. The character of George Stark is very brutal with the way he kills (gory deaths are always more fun in my books) and I like the mystery and supernatural elements of the plot. I also liked how the sparrows appear from beginning to end and their final role is quite creepy (I won’t tell you what they do, you’ll have to read that for yourself). Since reading the book I watched the film, which again the best bit was right at the beginning. I thought the book was better than the film, it went on a bit long and I recall my boyfriend fell asleep about half way through.

Sorry for the kind of lame review. My review of Blaze should (hopefully) be better as I only read it last week. It’s a bit fresher in the mind :).

]]>https://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/2011/10/18/the-2011-stephen-king-challenge-book-3/feed/0squidgeyvBring on the Stormhttps://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/2011/10/16/bring-on-the-storm/
https://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/2011/10/16/bring-on-the-storm/#commentsSun, 16 Oct 2011 16:00:18 +0000http://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/?p=232As promised yesterday, here is my post of the week. I thought I would post the lyrics to a new song I wrote, because it links in with my good thoughts. I haven’t done the music yet, I thought I would wait until the band was together. I have some ideas though, which include awesome drum solos and stuff. Here it is.

Bring on the Storm

VERSE 1:

We are like lightning

Watch the sparks fly

We are like rain clouds

Darkening the sky

The electricity is building

There’s static in the air

Can you feel the drumming?

The beat is everywhere

CHORUS:

Bring on the storm

Let the clouds burst

Wash away all the hurt

Bring on the storm

Let the lightning flash

Hear the thunder crash

Bring on the storm

VERSE 2:

We are like thunder

The noise is all around

We are like rain drops

Splashing to the ground

The wind is howling

Blowing through the air

Can you feel it drumming?

The beat is everywhere

CHORUS

BRIDGE:

The storm is coming to a head

I can’t take it anymore

So open your heart

And let the rain pour…

CHORUS

VERSE 3:

The storm has passed now

It has cleared the air

We are the drumming

The beat is everywhere

I know it’s not much of a post, but I’ve only had one day to think about it, so that’s all for now. Hopefully next week’s will be a bit more substantial.

Now to leave with the good thoughts of the week:

Saturday: I have a new film that I love, love, LOVE! It’s Disney (of course) and has the coolest chameleon called Pascal (which is a maths geek out too). The film is called Tangled and is a re-telling of Rapunzel. It is awesome! I’ve seen it 3 times in the last 2 days and have watched all the special features. Have I mentioned that I love it?

Sunday: Liberty liked my song Bring on the Storm that I finished writing the words to last night.

]]>https://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/2011/10/16/bring-on-the-storm/feed/2squidgeyvThe New Mehttps://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/2011/10/15/the-new-me/
https://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/2011/10/15/the-new-me/#commentsSat, 15 Oct 2011 17:37:38 +0000http://taylorthenotaboy.wordpress.com/?p=224It has recently come to my attention that I am quite high maintenance and complain a lot. When I was told this, it made me feel really depressed. Who wants to be thought of as the one who complains all the time? It didn’t make me feel good, and I spent the rest of the day moping (thus proving the point further I should think…) and generally feeling sorry for myself. I wasn’t really having a good day.

I then thought this is silly, instead of feeling sorry for myself, I should just stop complaining and find the good things to think about. With this new motive, I headed into the next day feeling quite good. I then had a really awful day, NOT a good start to my feeling good about myself. However, I am still determined to think more about the good rather than dwelling on the bad. I have also come up with a plan of action. This is how it goes.

1. Every day I am going to think about one good thing that has happened and write it down. (Note to self, find a book to write it in…)

2. I am going to start blogging again. I will write a blog post every Sunday, which includes all of the good things for the week, and anything else I can think of to write. If I think of anything else to write about during the week, I’ll do that too

3. I will practise piano and drums every day. I’m doing quite well at this already, I have an alarm on my phone that goes off at 5pm and 5.20pm to remind me. However, if I get frustrated at my playing, or other things are going on, I don’t usually play for the full twenty minutes, or my practise isn’t very effective, so I may as well have not bothered. I’m going to change that.

4. I am going to keep on top of my school work so that I get the grades I want to go to my top choice University. I need A*AA if I want to get into Warwick, and although I’m not too worried about my maths, I might struggle with my business grade, so I’m going to keep on top of my work so that it will be easier for me to revise. So far, so good.

5. I am going to practise hard at working on STEP papers (or what I like to call Super Duper Hard Maths Papers) so I get the right grade for Warwick, or so that the entry requirements are slightly lower in my other choices just in case my business grade isn’t quite what I want.

6. I am going to be more creative. I have started trying to write songs again. I’m writing them with the band in mind, so it has stretched me to try and write songs that could sound like proper songs. I’ve written one that we need to put music to, and I am halfway through another. I think it’s good to do something other than work.

7. I’m going to read through the books on my “to be read” list. I’ve recently got back into reading, and have read a few over the past couple of weeks.

8. I’m going to learn to cook. Let’s face it, that’s a pretty fundamental skill which, at the moment, I lack. I can make pie and cheese sandwiches and that’s about it…

9. I’m going to pass my driving test in December.

I may think of some other things, but for now that’s my plan in a nut shell, other than to generally not complain so much.